Peynirli Ionias - A Greek style fast-food / pizza place

Following my walk along Alexandras Avenue in April (part 1, part 2), I'll be presenting some interesting food spots, all near Alexandras and the Ambelokipi area. The first one is an inconspicuous, little place that offers a unique variety of Greek snack food and should be as much of interest to foreign visitors as it is to Greeks. It is called Peynirli  (pronounced pain-eer-lee) Ionias (of Ionia). Peynirli is a Turkish word for "with cheese" and it refers to a turkish-style pizza that Greeks from Asia Minor (a.k.a. Ionia) have brought to current Greece when they came here in 1922 (remember the post on Alexandras' refugee houses...?). So, I paid them a visit, my hands tied with a camera, and they were kind enough to let me take some pictures while going about their daily business.

Totaly inconspicuous from the outside: Peynirli Ionias at 3 Panormou St.

Peynirli Ionias
Address – Area: 3 Panormou St., [Ambelokipi neighborhood], Athens
Tel: 210-64.62.854
Cuisine: Greek / oriental snack food / bakery
Methods of payment: cash
Working hours: Mon-Sat 9:00-16:00
Accessibility: 2 stairs to enter.

Presentation / Ambience: You enter and join the small queue. As you wait you can take a peak at the pizzas, peynirlis, etc. which are placed in large baking pans in front of you, continuously being refilled with more stuff coming out of the non-stop working oven. 

Waiting in line

Wall painting of a bakery - in the folk Greek art tradition

You pick what you'd like to have and sometimes it's reheated in the oven for you, for a couple of minutes. There are no tables here as this is basically a take-out joint but there’s a small wooden bench to the right, where you can have your food standing, especially the messier types that risk staining your hands and clothes. At the top of the wall, above the oven, you can see a wall painting reminiscent of Peynirli's origins.

Preparation phase...

Toppings and more...

Small pizzas to the right, peynirlis to the left...

...and some more...

Right into the oven!

There you are!

...and some plain pieces of dough

Food / snacks: The peynirli – a boat-shaped dough, made on the premises starting each morning – is filled with various toppings (kasseri cheese, bacon, green peppers, ham, onions, mushrooms, etc) and is the main product sold here. Sometimes Greeks buy just the dough and take it home to make their own pizzas, or as bread. There are also many other shapes of dough that come with different fillings or toppings: a doughy bun filled with sausage, mustard and tomato sauce; small sandwich–type buns filled with grilled vegetables and feta cheese, in various combinations; small pizzas of the typical, round-shaped type which contain less bread than the peynirli (ask to have it cut in 4 slices). Finally, there’s ladopita: a simple baked bread, topped with oil, oregano and salt. Very tasty, easy to eat while walking and costing just 1Euro. Overall, prices range from 1 to 3Euros.

The boat-shaped peynirlis are placed in baking pans in front of you

Sandwich shaped buns, filled with feta cheese and grilled vegetables

Ladopita: The simplest "pie" possible: Baked dough with  oil, salt and oregano.

Service: What you’d expect from a fast-food place. Fast and simple.

Location / Getting there: Panormou St. is vertical to Alexandras Ave. and Peynirli is located just 20metres off the corner with Alexandras; on your left hand side as you walk up. Also, just 50metres from Ambelokipi Metro Station.

See map of Athens restaurants and eateriss at the bottom of this page.

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